New Mexico Is Looking For A New Slogan After 100 Years Of “Enchantment”

Officials in New Mexico are worried about their failing tourist industry which has plummeted by 10% over the last three years and now the states new tourism boss is hoping to change its luck with the help of a $2.5 million PR campaign and a brand new slogan.

While the new slogan has not yet been agreed upon yet a Santa Fe boutique owner tells the Wall Street Journal:

“People think New Mexico is all hoity-toity, high-end—or, for the real out-there people, there’s Roswell,” while the new tourism boss says the state would rather be thought of as a place of “adventure steeped in culture.”

In the meantime the 100-year-old state is looking to ditch its “Land of Enchantment” slogan after focus groups found that many people thought New Mexico was in another country or on the coast. Some people in those same groups also called the state “dull” and “barren.”

Known best for Roswell and therefore aliens by association the new tourism chief is hoping to create a “strong” and “iconic” slogan for the state that drawn in a younger more vibrant crowd that may be interested in other offerings New Mexico can provide.

Attracting those younger crowds is extremely important for New Mexico officials, according to official state records 24% of tourists who stay overnight in the state are 60 or older, far higher than the 17% average experienced in Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

Have you vacationed in New Mexico? What did you think of your experience was it enchanted or perhaps steeped in adventure?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]